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XTbe Sinking of the titanic 

AND OTHER POEMS 



BY 

C. VICTOR STAHL 

Author of "Zorabella," etc. 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

1915 



t<>'- cc 



V 



COPTBIOHT, 1916 

Sherman, Fhekch (J" Compant 



4i 



(rt 



SEP 24 1915 

(g)CI,A410623 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Sinking of the Titanic .... 1 

Inspiration 4 

Spring Ballad 5 

The Spirit of War 8 

The Flowerets' Communion 10 

The Riddle of Life 12 

Columbia's Flag 13 

The Bar of Science 14 

The Chord Unsung 16 

The Oasis 17 

Push Onward 18 

Sing It 19 

The Oriole 20 

Smiles and Tears 21 

Be Strong 22 

The Children's Dream 23 

To Pope Pius X 25 

Enmity 26 

Why Grieve? 27 

The Toll of Majesty 28 

Ambition 29 

Know Thyself 30 

Blessings in Disguise 31 

Deceiving Maidens 32 

The Solution 33 

A Woman's Heart 34 

Life's Mission 35 

The Magnet 36 

The Swallow's Flight 37 



The Poet's Reward 38 

The Lover's Benediction 39 

Nature's Cheer 40 

The War Eternal 41 

Angel Music 42 

Three Names 44 

The Smiles of Truth 45 

A Token 46 

The Pirate Ant 47 

Skinker Road 48 

HUMOR 

His Legacy 53 

The Word Misspelled 55 

The Nabob's Pride 56 

Huerta's Drinking Song 58 

Hoch der Kaiser 59 

A Mash in Court 60 

His Search for Gold 62 



THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC 
AND OTHER POEMS 



THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC 

Oh, Titan was her gorgeous armament 

And Titan was her sail and crew ; 
A thing of pride to sweep the surging tide 

And laugh to scorn the perilous blue. 
Yet let us weep not for her treasured hulk 

That sank leagues deep into the sea, 
But for the toll of ill-starred voyagers 

Who rode her to eternity. 

I see the glory of that primal hour 

When first her beams did breast the wave, — 
Yea, owner, builder, seaman's eyes did sparkle 

As did the sea her huge side lave : — 
How zealously the elite madly rushed 

To trust their passage in her care. 
To boast their presence on the maiden trip 

Of that leviathan so rare. 

She sailed. — The sky gleamed bright and 
azure clear. 

The waves lashed gently at her side. 
The moon that night shone down auspiciously 

Upon that ship of gorgeous pride. 
Her engines tore in frenzy o'er and o'er. 

Her powerful shafts did heave and quake. 
As loud and clear her captain's voice rang out, 

" Speed on ! Fear not the iceberg's brake." 



[1] 



Ahead there floundered in the chilly sea 

A huge and bristling wall of ice. 
" What shall we do ? " her helmsman tremu- 
lously cried. 

Word came, " Let's cleave it in a trice," 
Whereat the mighty engines creaked and 
strained 

And madly sped the Titan hulk. 
Ne'er moved nor stirred the ocean's icy berg. 

But braced against her speeding bulk. 

" Dost thou defy me, master of the sea. 

Thou untried artifice of man? 
I'll show thee, then, whose is the stronger hand, 

For mine was here e'er thine began." 
Crash ! Crash ! The waters rushed. The ship's 
side heaved. 

The ponderous engines ceased to throb. 
And there above the darkening drawbridge 
cried 

A thousand souls in fear to God. 

From peaceful slumbers wildly they uprose. 
From games of whist, from dance and wine. 

" Can it be so ? " they cried in anguished 
pride — 
" So sinking in the icy brine? " 

But ah ! alas ! the hand of death hung o'er. 
Alas for captain, ship and crew I 



m 



In headstrong haste they'd left the boats be- 
hind 
That save men from the watery blue. 

" Let there be women saved, and they alone 1 " 

Rose up like steel the chivalrous cry, 
While gallant men stood on the slippery deck 

And brave resolved themselves to die. 
Then solemn strains rose from the engulfing 
main, 

" Nearer my God," they sang, " to Thee," 
Till all that was left of the Titan's envied hulk 

Was a billowy gurgle in the sea. 

Alas for man ! Alas for vaunting boast ! 

Which seeks to conquer the fate of the sea, 
Essays to raise proud hulks of iron and steel 

And laugh to scorn God's mastery ! 
Thus from their watery grave he lifts his voice ; 

" None tempt my power by craft malign. 
Lo ! all shall cleave unto the common end. 

And none shall stand but I, divine \ " 



[3] 



INSPIRATION 

Peoud child of fortune, smile on thy better 

hope! 
Let not thine arm swerve from thy great de- 
sire! 
Stand not abashed, nor fear the tow'ring steep 
Which thou wouldst climb, but bend thy will — 
That magic wand of every earthly deed. 
The power that peopleth worlds and raiseth 

thrones — 
And upwards mount. Thou hast thy heart's 

want now. 
If thou but claim'st it ! 



[4] 



SPRING BALLAD 

Spring, Spring, O gentle Spring, where hast 

thou been so long? 
Why hast thou not come sooner to me? 
Goddess of mirth. 
Gay queen of the earth, 
I am faint for thy smile, as I watched the long 

while 
Thy merry, rollicksome face to see. 

Spring, Spring, O gentle Spring, why wast thou 

silent so long? 
Why didst thou not answer my reverent call? 
Goddess of mirth, 
Gay queen of the earth, 
Come forth, from glade or glen, from vale or 

hill, from bog or fen. 
And flutter thy magical wand high over all. 

But lo ! now thou art come, with thy wonderful 

train. 
Never so bright and never so gay. 
Goddess of mirth, 
Gay queen of the earth. 
Thy throne they prepare in the heights of the 

air 
For thine inauguration day. 



[5] 



Thy wonderful reign has begun with the rise 

of the sun, 
All heaven and earth but wait on thee now, 
Goddess of mirth, 
Gay queen of the earth, 
I smell thy sweet flowers and thy odorous 

bowers 
And see the green trees before thee to bow. 

The robins have come from their faraway home, 
And I hear their sweet songs to burst forth 
again. 
Goddess of mirth, 
Gay queen of the earth. 
Thou mak'st their tones rise up to the azure 

skies 
That they may encore thine orchestral train. 

March spreads her boisterous clouds like Au- 
tumn's silvery shrouds, 
And whistles her winds through thy soft, balmy 
hair, — 
Goddess of mirth. 
Gay queen of the earth. 
Then soon thy soft April showers make way 

for May's bowers 
And nature but waits for June time so fair. 



[6] 



Spring, Spring, O gentle Spring, thou art dear- 
est of all to me, 
A subject of thine, I kneel at thy shrine, — 
Goddess of mirth. 
Gay queen of the earth, 
I shall wait for thy smile, as I watch the long 

while 
To see thee return when again I shall call. 



m 



THE SPIRIT OF WAR ^ 

Ho ! ho ! I come in fury as the storm 

And seek earth's nations east and west. 

I breathe the breath of fire within them all, 
And lure to arms the proud'st and best. 

I swoop down on their gilded palaces, 
And shake the monarchs of the world ; 

I rouse them from their cots of peace and ease 
And set their boasting flags unfurled. 

Upon the doors of happy homes I knock, 

And men of valor do I call 
To take the stand against their fellowmen. 

To spill their blood and spill it all. 

I wend my flight to peaceful, quiet fields 

Where tillers ever tireless toil ; 
I bid them leave their plows and homes behind, 

And steel themselves with arms of spoil. 

Then nursing babes at mothers' breasts I touch. 
For loud their fathers do I call ; 

I reck not of their mothers' tear-stained eyes 
When those do in the battle fall. 

I sweep o'er peaceful cities great and strong, 
Whose towers outtop the blue-ribbed sky ; 

I give the word to grind out shot and shell 
Until they lowly, humble lie. 
[8] 



The mighty nations to my wings I call, — 

A hundred million men of war 
To struggle helpless 'gainst the sword of 
death, — 

Beneath my spell they fallen are. 

O'er Asia's strand I spread mine eaglet wings, 
O'er Austria, England, France and Spain ; 

Then do I touch Japan and Mexico, 
Then back to Europe's soil again. 

My maw is ever empty for their blood, 
" On ! on ! " I cry for newer prey ; 

My master Mars doth urge me take the field 
Myself to slaughter and to slay. 

Away with peace and arbitration's hand, 
'Neath whose pale spell I envious quake: 

They only dare to cross my boist'rous path ; 
Them can I never bend nor break. 

But on I go, and when my wreak is o'er 
And Mars requites me for my pain. 

To war's dead corps and sepulchres I cry: 
" Great God, what fools have mortals been ! '* 



[9] 



THE FLOWERETS' COMMUNION 

There is a solitary hillside, 
Where flow'rets, blooming gay, 

Have watched the sky with eager pride 
From dawn till close of da3% 

No wand'ring stranger do they see. 
Who treads that silent place, 

To look upon their majesty 
Or view their radiant face. 

But yet, unplaintive, do they bloom 
And smile out 'gainst the sky, — 

From them the birds do take their song 
And bees their honey ply. 

Then come the little sunbeams fair, 
Leaping o'er the crumbled wall, 

And gayly dancing here and there 
Spring at the flow'rets' call. 

Then sweet communion do they hold, 
The flowers and sunbeams there ; 

The sunbeams stoop to plant their lips 
Upon the flow'rets fair. 

They breathe into the sunbeams life 

To trip athwart the plain. 
To sparkle in their dazzling revelries 

And round and round again. 
[10] 



Glad Hymen joins them there 'neath heaven 

And seals them with her love: 
And as the issue of their amity, 

Joy rings to heaven above. 

O ye who in earth's lonely vales 

Do struggling, plaintive go. 
Think not thine humble merits less 

Than in the world's bright glow. 

And ye who are most lonesome, sore, 

Do not despairing wend, — 
For every flower there darts a sunbeam fair. 

For every soul, a helping friend. 



[11] 



THE RIDDLE OF LIFE 

Oh, what a weak, sporadic thing is maiij 
Burst forth upon life's troublous sea! 

Unasked he comes, unwished therefrom he 
goes, — 
Oh, whither is his destiny? 

I put my riddle to the flying breeze 
That flurried past with airy wing; 

My words were borne back on the fleecy clouds 
Who laughed to scorn my questioning. 

I asked it of the lordful mountain peak 
Who lays his hoar face to the sky; 

He only shrugged his Atlan shoulders bare, 
And answered me a mournful sigh. 

I plied it to the deep and surging sea 

Where myriads slept in her watery grave; 

She roared and spumed, and splashed her 
surges higher. 
And answer none to me she gave. 

Then to the heavens with upturned face I 
gazed, 

And reverent asked my God in prayer; 
A still, small voice breathed back to me in love, 

" Wait, child ; thou shalt know better there." 

[12] 



COLUMBIA'S FLAG 

Let's raise Columbia's banner to the clouds 

And hoist her colors in the skies ; 
Let every patriot 'neath her azure stand ; 

Let never a foe upon her rise! 

Let's wear her emblem proudly on our breasts ; 

Let's steel our hearts with valor true. 
As long as she doth guard our liberty 

With the tints of the red, white and blue ! 

Whether in peace or in the battle's roar, 

Be she the guardian of our soil ! 
Spare not our lives to save our country's 
hearth ; 

Shirk not the havoc and the toil ! 

Dear flag, thou emblem of a nation's pride, 
Sail proudly o'er the scattered main, 

And gather all Columbia's sons to thee, 
That never may our freedom wane ! 

Go raise Columbia's banner to the clouds. 
And hoist her colors in the skies ! 

Let every patriot 'neath her azure stand ; 
Let never a foe upon her rise ! 



[13] 



THE BAR OF SCIENCE 

Who thwarts thy will? 
O Science, who can stop thine onward sweep, 
Or lay a bar 'fore thine ambitious ways? 
Oh, who will fling the gauntlet down to thee 
And dare estop thee in thy feats of skill 
That thou so bold perform'st? None, none of 

man, 
But God alone. He knows what mysteries 
To scuttle from thy sight. 

Were't not for Him, 
Thou would'st unmine the whole great globe of 

man ; 
Draw figures o'er the moon's frail, verdant 

map; 
Bind all the planets to our earth's great orb ; 
And, cooling, freeze the sun's most torrid heat. 
Or give it greater fire. Thou'd'st chain the 

thunderbolt ; 
Catch heaven's lightning in thine own great 

leash 
For man's devising smiths. 

But let us praise thee 
For what thy dare-all, do-all skill hath wrought 
On earth alone. Thou'st built the flying 

planes, 
The heaving ships — dark insti-uments of war ; 
[14] 



Thou'st wrought the grafting of man's hearts 

and brains, 
The coinage of briglit pearls and rubies rare, 
The speeding trains, the horseless vehicles, — 
But naught 'gainst God's great will. 

For thou'st not reached 
Where thou can'st scorn our great Creator's 

skill, 
For thou know'st not the essence of the soul. 
That which 'bove all he holds firm in his mighty 

hand. 
Yea, jea, with all thy vaunted boast of power. 
Thou canst not His great'st handiwork out- 
do, — 
Thou canst not e'er make man ! 



[15] 



THE CHORD UNSUNG 

O LET me on some mystic height above 

Compose, my soul, a perfect lay ! 
O let me rise and ever onward rise 

Unto the fairest, perfect day ! 
My heart doth swell with sweet, concordant 
tones. 

And I would fain burst out in song; 
But my weak soul can never rise the height 

Where such ^olian strains belong. 

Oft have I sat upon the seashore's strand 

And strung my proud harp to the wave. 
While the billows rolled in splendor at my feet 

And the salt sea did my cushion lave. 
Then struck I out upon the surging tide 

My sweetest notes of harp and wand, — 
But my weak themes fell most far short the 
minstrelsy 

Of those celestial strains beyond. 



[16] 



THE OASIS 

O WHAT mild ease these shadowy pahns af- 
ford, — 
The luscious figs, the palate tempting nuts. 
The babbling rill, from whose unending source 
Such cooling water gushes forth that it would 

quench 
Ten thousand Stygian thirsts. What rarest 

joy! 
What soft retreat is here ! No flatt'ring court. 
No vain and idle pomp beneath whose flow'ry 

hand 
The vip'rous serpent creeps unseen ! 



[17] 



PUSH ONWARD 

No matter if your heart be weary, 
No matter if your hopes be dreary; 
Through an avalanche of hopes, and fears, and 

ills. 
And stubborn critics, and harsh opposing 

wills, — 
Push onward ; you will win at last ! 

No use to say you are defeated, — 
You've fought too far to be retreated ; 
For you ahead a rose wreathed laurel lies, 
Accomplished hopes and victory's valiant 
prize, — 
Push onward ; you will win at last ! 

O soul of man, most burden laden. 

Know thou that fortune stands, a coyish 

maiden 
Who hides beneath her frowns that wished- 

for smile 
She waits to shower on you just all the while, — 
Push onward ; you will win at last ! 



[18] 



SING IT 

If you've a good song to be sung, — 

A song of laughter or of rollicking cheer 

To rouse to smiles this world so dark and 

drear, 
A song that takes the grief from sorrow's bit- 
ter cup 
And turns the bloom of joy and pleasure up, — 
Sing it ! 

If you've a good song to be sung, — 
What matters how untuned your lyre may be, 
What matters that it rings discordantly, 
Only that your heart is welling o'er 
With joyous strains that may fill out life's 
score, — 

Sing it ! 



[19] 



THE ORIOLE 

Bird of thy pretty plumage, thou 
Art thou no prouder than the crow? 

If thou wert human, thou'dst surely be, — 
Men's envious ways would make thee so. 

But 't is much better as thou art ; 

Then art thou naught but satisfied, — 
Thou feel'st no pain, nor aching heart ; 

Thou hast no want, nor blinding pride. 



[20] 



SMILES AND TEARS 

O THAT these precious smiles we smile to-day 
Were always smiles, — could last for aye and 

aye; 
But ah! too soon the golden bowl will break, 
And erst glad hearts shall then with sorrow 

quake. 

Alas ! that such dark clouds hide 'neath the sun 
T'obscurc him e'en before his race is done; 
But 't is most true, — a truth too sad to say, — 
That we who smile, shall never smile alway. 



[21] 



BE STRONG 

Be strong, O man of earth, be strong f 
And rise to triumph through thy will ; 

Yea, drive the conquering tempter from thy 
soul 
That he may do to thee no ill. 

Be strong, O man of earth, be strong! 

Let virtue's sceptre guide thy hand ; 
From morn till night, from night till mom, 
do thou 

Undaunted 'gainst brute evil stand. 

Be strong, O man of earth, be strong! 

Grip steadily to that noble task 
To fight the want that argues in thy soul 

To let each sinning be the last. 

Be strong, O man of earth, be strong! 

Not for thyself alone possess, 
But let thy valiant trophies be a sign 

Breathing valor in thy brother's breast. 

Be strong, O man of earth, be strong? 

In mind and soul, in heart and brain. 
Thou hast no loss, brave man, in combating, 

But lo ! thou hast the world to gain. 



[22] 



THE CHILDREN'S DREAM 

Fast, fast asleep, — done are their earthly 
cares ; 
To realms of dreamland now they go, 
Where sprightly elves and long beard goblins 

gay 

Do dance around on light tiptoe. 

Anon an elf doth stretch her silvery wand. 
Made of the moonbeams bright and fair. 

And lo ! they 'gin their dreams of beauteous 
things 
As she touches their soft downy hair. 

The curtains of Nod are drawn aside, 
And there is the fairies' room, — 

Gold tinseled Christmas trees, and dolls and 
toys, 
Bright picture books and flowers in bloom. 

Oases of delight! O blissful hours! 

O happy, wished-for fairyland, 
Where they may live in dreams the whole night 
long. 

And hold communion with the elfish band. 



[23] 



Then to new joys they waken on the morrow, 
From realms of dreams to realms of play. 

O feasts of joys! Fairies' fancies charm by 
night, 
And real toys 'rapture them by day. 

O to be a laughing child again tonight, — 
Forever is the grown folk's prayer, — 

That our dreams be all of pleasures and of 
joys, 
And our waking hours still find them there ! 



[24] 



TO POPE PIUS X 

O ILL-STARRED Popc ! From thee all power was 
reft 

To quell the slaughter of earth's men. 
Alone thou grieved'st their needless sufferings, 

And racking qualms beyond all mortal ken. 

Pontiff Supreme ! Blest be thy reverent name 
Who wroughtst great tasks most holily, 

But couldst not make men think the thoughts 
of peace 
When they in blood were steeped so mightily. 

In ancient days thy predecessors swayed 
The power earth's horrid wars to quell, 

But ah, alas ! their might is but remembrance 
dim. 
And now brute arms their triumphs tell. 

O mighty monarchs ! Yours, yours is the 
blame 
That we have holy Pius lost. 
For ye have stirred the wars that racked his 
frame, 
And his great life is now th'atoning cost. 



[25] 



ENMITY 

Say, of what mortal use is enmity? 

Hast thou not seen two midget ants in strife, 

Contending o'er the petal in the vale, — 

See how they toil and sweat, and struggle long, 

And tumble zig-zag down the hilly slope, 

And e'en do totter on the streamlet's edge. 

Until at length one Lilliput doth win 

By one great stroke, when lo ! a sudden gale 

Doth whisk its great nose do\^Ti the hilltop's 

side, 
And puffs the victor and the prize away. 
So oft the giant world wrests from our grasp 
The things we seek in tedious rivalry ; 
And like the foolish little ants a-tilt. 
Great Justice 'hove, who loathes such noxious 

strife, 
Doth make us lose the prize we strove to gain. 
And to defeat doth add discomfiture. 



[26] 



WHY GRIEVE? 

Why weep we when a spirit flies away, 

Why can we not cease crying, — 
For life is but the soul's full form, 

And death is but the dying? 
The pallid face and closed eye 

Prove not the end of man's career, 
But only mark the spirit's life 

Uplifted to a higher sphere. 



[27] 



THE TOLL OF MAJESTY 

Poor suffering king! 
His misery is his friend. Him doth he guest 
The whole day long. His subjects want not 

ease, 
Nor eat their messes joyless round their boards 
While he doth thrust aside the daintiest dish, 
Whose hardness doth the peasant's crust ex- 
ceed. 
Or bolts it down in tremulous haste and fear, 
Eyes trained for secret enemies. Who knows.'' 
Some sneak assassin's steel may strike his heart, 
Or some rude bomb may rend the castle's base 
But to attempt his life. God, save the king. 
That he may use his throne and sceptre right. 
And be not thus the nation's trembling slave. 
But be its strongest power! 



[28] 



AMBITION 

Ambition is a msin-of-war, 

And constant will her battery, 
Hard pressing down upon the foe 

Upon life's wide and rolling sea. 
No sturdy coils nor clanking chains 

Can ever bind her to the shore; 
Through storm and tempest, wind and wave, 

She plows the waters o'er. 
There is no craft she'll not engage. 

Nor cares how broad her bulk or mast, 
For she will buckle to her side 

And in the struggle win at last. 



[29] 



KNOW THYSELF 

There is a key to every human life, 

A door to every human heart ; 
And those who would our mysteries unbar 

Do but essay the locksmith's art. 
Wise is the man who holds the keys that ope 

What hidden thoughts our souls possess, 
But he is still the wiser, nobler smith 

Who can unlock his own heart best. 



[30] 



BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE 

How can misfortune but a blessing be 

And slight mishaps be called unkind? 
Oft the lessons we learn in a single evil turn 

Are more than all success combined. 
If only we knew the lordly benisons 

That come from the tempest, the winds and 
the rain, 
We would not curse the cloud-reft heavens so, 

Nor the cavernous depths of earth profane. 



[31] 



DECEIVING MAIDENS 

Ah ! triumph is a summer's flower, 

And short-lived is success ; 
Their petals fade but in an hour 

And wither into nothingness. 
Two blushing maidens fair are they, — 

The fairest of their kin. 
So skilled in the art of a lover's ruse 

That we woo them, but rarely win. 



[32] 



THE SOLUTION 

To be, or not to be, — that is the question. — Shakespeare. 

Why should man struggle here? 
Is't not the hope of something yet in life, 
Some great achievement, some heroic feat 
Which worth'ly succors to humanity, 
That lights the dimmed, expiring spark of life 
And bids us still seek in adversity 
The means to atone for all our erring past 
And strive to gain the haven of the blest. 
The soul's most glorious prize, — that thing 

cterne? 
Cut off by one weak, frail, 'gainst-nature act, — 
By use of sword, or gun, or poisoned vial, — 
What hope exists the prize of life to win. 
When every means therefor is wrested 'way. 
And our life's strength ebbs out in the warping 

clay ? 



[33] 



A WOMAN'S HEART 

What mystery ! 
It is to me a most strange questioning, 
That man would hold what hearts he captivates 
But for a little while, — then puffs them off, 
As one by one they in his estimation wane, 
And turns his mind to other victories, 
Nor ever cares how infinite they are, — 
Yea, like the proud Atilla doth he stand. 
Who counts his victims captured by the sword, 
And then, with conquest filled, whets o'er his 

steel 
And, never sated, sighs for subjects more: 
Yet woman, with her heart so guileless true. 
Would hold but one, and him thereto she'd cling 
Through life or death, and keep her virgin soul. 
In memory of him, e'er spotless and unstained 
By taint of foreign love. 



[34] 



LIFE'S MISSION 

Go, seek your earthly mission, ye who toil, — 

Discern why God hath placed you here. 
Hide not the talent He hath given you 

For idle sloth or cowardly fear ! 
Some worthy task but waits for each to do, 

To aid the world's great work to-day; 
Put forth thy might upon life's struggling field. 

And thou mayst bear the prize away ! 



[35] 



THE MAGNET 

The good alone are to be loved, adored, 

For they are pure 
And purity rather draws the eye of man 
Than smoky soot, which gums the evil soul 
And blacker grows until it doth beseem 
Grim Pluto's loathsome pit, which oft did 

drive 
The Gods that dug't away. 



[36] 



THE SWALLOW'S FLIGHT 

O FOR swift wings ! 
O let me fly as are the swallows, free — 
Free from the toil and turmoil of the world! 
Let me away to some Elysian fields, 
Where I may sing the swallow's lay. O joy! 
How heavenly to be flitting, nestling there, 
Where one might sing unto the ambrosial sun; 
Or stride her chariot, lined with fleecy clouds ; 
Taste such delights as ne'er hath mortal known, 
From Hebe's cup or Juno's flowing bowl, 
For all eternity ! 



[37] 



THE POET'S REWARD 

A POOR, neglected poet once there lived, 
Who to the souls of millions sang; 

He cheered their hearts and eased their restless 
minds 
With ne'er discordant note nor twang. 

Yet little of this world's great goods he asTced, 

And littler still thereof did gain. 
He left the world with joj and pleasure filled, 

But took its sorrow and its pain. 

Yet I do know he labored not in vain, 
Though his reward to win was long, — 

For God above, in His great charity, 
Did make His angels sing his song. 



[38] 



THE LOVER'S BENEDICTION 

Joy to jou, my pretty one! 
Flufflcs, ruffles, all aglow, 
Heart a-beating two-four time, — 
Joy be yours, and joy be mine 
To see you joyous so. 

Life to you be full of cheer 
In the love that you have found, 
Every smile that he doth shew 
Hath a meaning deep to you 
As it sheds its radiance 'round. 

May long annals bless your life, 
May you never fret or fume ! 
May your joys be ever full. 
And his love no lesser dull 
Than its now most perfect bloom ! 



[39] 



NATURE'S CHEER 

Oh, when I sigh and melancholy grow, 
And all my hopes turn brown and sere. 

It sends a thrill of gladness in my heart 
To think that we have nature here. 

Then in the fields I go a-roaming. 

And in the high topped woods a-play: 

Away with cares and melancholy now, 
I know I'd like to live alway. 

The birds do sing me sweet songs from the 
trees. 
The bees and locusts hum their best. 
Oh, can high heaven top these pure Elysian 
charms, 
Can it be happier and more blest? 

Then do I thank my dear Redeemer 
That he hath giv'n this world of ours. 

Where we may seek our souls' full consolation 
In realms of birds, and trees, and flowers. 



[40] 



THE WAR ETERNAL 

The strife of man will ne'er be over, 

Though all earth's wars be gone 
And countless soldiers have departed 

Unto the farther on, — 
For life's array must e'er be posing 

Against the wiles of sin, 
The devil and his mighty legions 

Who strive the world to win. 

Fight on ! fight on ! 'T is only valor 

Which wins the cov'tcd prize ; 
'T is only love and perfect service 

That crowns us in the skies. 
Within the distance arms are clashing 

And fresh blood mars the sod, — 
'T is but the war of good and evil 

On battlefields of God. 

Oh, there is comfort in the struggle, 

For Christ's our aide-de-camp ; 
With hosts of God's own saints and angels, 

We battle not alone. 
Go press amidst the foremost legion 

Which marches on before ; 
Go draw thy sword against the evil one ; 

Prove thou a victor in the war ! 



[41] 



ANGEL MUSIC 

Oh, I hear the sweetest music 

Floating on the liquid air, 
And my mind is lost in fancy — 

'T is my loved one sitting there. 
Then I gaze upon her tresses, 

Dream of fairy lands, 
'Neath the spell of angel music 

Played by angel hands. 

Joyous thoughts dispel my sadness ; 

All is joy and mirthsome glee 
As her fingers touch the heart notes 

With enraptured minstrelsy ; 
And the earth is more a heaven 

Than a barren, struggling strand, 
'Neath the strains of angel music 

Played by angel hands. 

Then she glides to notes of sadness. 

And my heart is struck with pain 
As she plays some touching ballad 

Or o'er some pathetic strain. 
Yet the tears I shed are glad ones. 

And I know she understands 
That I am happy in the music 

Played by angel hands. 



[42] 



Thus she runs the gamut over, 

Swaying ceaseless to and fro 
Till my heart is tuned and chorded 

To the love that makes us glow: 
Yes, she knows my heart is tempered, 

Trebly lost in love's demands. 
In the charm of angel music 

Played by angel hands. 

Thus our hearts are scaled in union 

In those joyous strains of love, 
And I hard can wait the closing 

My unbounded love to prove: 
For I wait to clasp her in my arms 

And a kiss — to make demands, — 
Small payment for that heavenly music 

Played by angel hands. 



[43] 



THREE NAMES 

A BIRD, a child, and a bed of purple flowers, 
I found in a garden so green and so bright. 

With gentle step to them I moved and spoke, — 
All three did tremble at my sight. 

" Oh, come to me, my pretty little flowers ; 

And please, please breathe your name to me. 
I want to know you better than I do ; 

I think we should not strangers be. 

" Oh, come to me, my pretty blue-eyed child. 
And lisp thine own sweet name to me ; 

Thy golden ringlets and thine angel smiles 
Deserve a greater blazonry. 

" Oh, come to me, my pretty caged bird. 
And sing thy name in thy song to me ; 

Thou sing'st the sweetest songs I ever heard. 
But I'd know more than that of thee." 

So one by one each gave her secret up 
With a confidence I felt was true. 

The flowers breathed violet ; the child spoke the 
same; 
And the bird thereat sang violet too. 



[44] 



THE SMILES OF TRUTH 

Oh, give to me the simple heart 

Where there is meaning in its smile, — 

The heart that proves 'twould do me good 
Without a thought of fraud or guile. 

Those are the smiles that glad my soul 
'Bove all glad things on earth I know ; 

They give me faith in friendship yet, 
When all the world seems false in show. 

Oh, give to me the simple heart 

Whose smiles liave depth without an end,- 
Those are the smiles that beam from God 

And make our souls to heaven tend. 



[45] 



A TOKEN 

Our land's first lady's in her grave. She lives 
Far from the tumult of the world, 

Where those great deeds of love wreck not the 
health, 
But are in tomes of gold impearled. 

A noble sacrifice to life she made, 

Wherein her tasks outdid her strength. 

What pity, then, that she must leave so soon. 
Ere that her life had reached its length. 

A gracious mother and a loyal wife, 
Cherished by all both far and near. 

Let her rare life shine o'er our weeping land ; 
Let her great name be ever dear! 

Dear President ! Witli thee a nation mourns 
And sheds kind teardrops on her bier, 

For thou hast lost the goodliest wife of earth 
And art left 'lone, disconsolate, here. 



[46] 



THE PIRATE ANT 

Oh, see her bear her heavy burden, 

Undaunted 'gainst the stirring breeze; 

The cordlet quakes and tremulous shakes 
As the antlet quivers with the trees. 

Yet still she keeps on plodding onward, 
So light in heart and free of limb ; 

Muscling in her arms a captured fly, 
She sails, — a pirate maritime. 

O toil most great, — O distance infinite ! 

From tree to tree the cord is strung, 
But naught dissuades the plucky ant 

Who rides the rope tlic trees among. 

Heave ho ! the wind is rising higher. 
And thief and prey are almost gone ; 

But stark she clingeth to the mast 
And bears her priceless booty home. 

Thus let men lesson from the tiny ant 
Who doth unwearied to her task bend ; 

No toil too great, no task too long, 
But she doth nobly bring't to end ! 



[47] 



SKINKER ROAD 

Skinker Road was chosen as the Midway of the World's 
Fair held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. 

O Skinker Road, thou road of roads, 
Thou way of wondrous ways, 
The highway of the pioneers, 

The "Midway" of the World's Fair 
place, 
The choicest of the chosen few, — 

By thy rustic beauty wast thou crowned; 
But now I hear the beat of toiling feet 
That raise thy fabrics round. 

O Skinker Road, thou road of roads, 

Thou way of wondrous ways, 
Great mighty men have passed thee o'er 

In old Missouri's earlier days. 
Thy name be of the pioneer 

Who first thy charming highway laid. 
And gave thy name to be known of fame 

By a world's unparalleled parade. 

O Skinker Road, thou road of roads. 

Thou way of wondrous ways, 
How soon shall all thy beauty fade 

To fit thee for thy coming days ! 
The hand of progress soon shall snatch 

The trees that hang thy grasses o'er, 
And thy winding lane shall bear in train 

Advancement's fruitful store. 
[48] 



O Skinker Road, thou road of roads, 

Thou way of wondrous ways. 
All tongues on earth shall speak thy name. 

All races there meet face to face. 
Once wast thou highway of the pioneers 

In the rugged days of toil and war, 
But now the lane of a world-wide fame. 

The " Midway " of the Fair. 



[49] 



I 



HUMOR 

I 



HIS LEGACY 

The lavish legacy of Frank Legree 
No doubt is sorrowing him yet ; 

For once he owned a million francs in gold, 
But now he owes a million debt. 

When first he eyed his huge inheritance 

His uncle left to him in fee, 
He smiled to see himself a millionaire, 

And moved in best society. 

He built a tomb for his dear uncle then, 
And epitaphed him " grand old man," 

Thougli in his life he had ne'er tiiought of 
him 
And liked him better dead than — 

Alive. So then he called his friends 
around, — 
Patrons of wine and song and ease ; 
Mild drinks did make him thirst for stronger 
gins. 
And small jags grew protracted sprees. 

He squandered thousands on the race course; 

In dice he lost at every throw ; 
He scattered change like oatmeal fed to 
chickens ; 
His pile soon melted down like snow — 
[53] 



In July. His banker sent a gentle invitation 
To straighten his o'erdrawn account. 

He did. He sent a bullet in his brain 
And never stopped to ask the amount. 

The lavish legacy of Frank Legree 
No doubt is sorrowing him yet; 

Lieu of an earthly million francs in gold, 
He's serving time for soul lost debt. 



[54] 



THE WORD MISSPELLED 

Whene'er you miss 

A field of bliss, 
It is not half so bad 

As to presume 

Your words are known, 
When you but thought you had. 

When you've planned up 

A good stand up. 
And fall to the other end, 

It brings aroun' 

A funny frown 
Which judgment cannot mend. 

Your playmates' laugh 

Is only half 
The ugliness you feel ; 

You'd kick yourself 

Like the Ghib the Guelf 
If that the pang would heal. 

So boys, I say, 

Study away 
And ever strive your best, 

So you'll be glad 

Instead of sad, 
And keep your level with the rest. 

[55] 



THE NABOB'S PRIDE 

I PASSED him in his high-born mansion oft, 
And lo ! he would not speak to me, 

For I was born of humble parentage 
And mj fortune lacked his dignity. 

The days rolled by. We often met in face 
Upon the highway of our town ; 

I hoped to see him cast a smile on me, 
But only reaped a scowling frown. 

I clenched my fist, and silent passed him by 
With words — perhaps revenge or spite ; 

But they breathed inspiration to my soul 
To strive and set our scores aright. 

With such thought buried in mine aching 
breast, 

I labored ceaseless at my task ; 
And saw my fortunes not unenvied rise 

Until no greater could I ask. 

But what of him? In some far distant place, 
Again as oft we chanced to meet. 

His wealth had flown, while mine tenfold had 
grown, — 
Foul luck had made him indiscreet. 



[56] 



I picked him from the gutter, — a sorry sight, 
Reeling with wine, and sick and sore: 

And as I passed a snug goldpiece, he said, 
" Beg pard', that I knew you not before." 



[67] 



HUERTA'S DRINKING SONG 

On the day of the siege of Vera Cruz. 

Be merry, let us drink wine, 
And sip, sip, sip ; 
Full soon the days shall slip, 
Gray hairs shall catch us, 
Grim death will dispatch us 
Long ere our pleasures be full. 
Let not the soul be dull, — 

Therefore be merry ; let us drink wine. 

Be merry, let us drink wine, 

And quaff, quaff, quaff; 

Loud ring your cheering laugh, — 

Care we for Gringos.? 

Let 'em come, by Jingos ! 

Ne'er fear that all will be well. 

We'll lick 'em spite of hell,— 
Therefore be merry; let us drink wine. 



[58] 



HOCH DER KAISER 

Hoch der Kaiser! How he slapped his son, 

When he saw the war begin ! 
Spoke the Kaiser in his wrath to the crown 
prince, 

" What an awful mess you've got me in ! " 

" Squads of Russians, French, and Englishmen, 

Swords a-tilt to quell us all ; 
Couldn't you wait until we had grown stronger. 

With more men and guns on which to fall? 

" I'll not say that I am so displeased. 
That 3'ou've laid Mar's spirit bare, — 

'T is the will of every noble Deutscher, — 
But you should 'a used much greater care. 

" Now we've got to battle, — we're in for war ! 

But I guess I'll let you fight. 
'Sides, it's just as good a time as any 

Just to show them all our might. 

" Let the drum beat to its martial tune ; 

Strike Wacht am Rhein and let's begin; 
Austria's aid will go to help us some. 

So I guess we'll now stay in." 



[59] 



A MASH IN COURT 

A BASHFUL, blushing maiden fair it was 

Who to the altar bent her way, 
A-trembling on her future spouse's arm, 

To Justice Rome Van Rennsler Day. 

The judge looked through his nose-pinched 
specs and smiled, 

" Ah, ha ! Two dollars for a fee." 
Then when the ceremony was over, rose, 

" I guess I'll kiss the bride," says he. 

The groom was game, and led the justice down 
To where the wedding party sat ; 

But law! the judge was really so excited 
He didn't know just where he was at. 

But on he stumbled, and the groom cried out, 
" You're making it fine, so hurry on." 

The bride just flinched and turned her pretty 
head. 
While the judge picked out a dress of lawn. 

Our blushing bride had worn a crepe de chene, — 
The bride's maid a lawn did grace, — 

But the judge seized on the first he came to 
there. 
And planted a smack on her ruby face. 

[60] 



" Why, what's the matter? " all the guests did 
cry, 
As the lawn flew through the questioning 
throng. 
Alas ! the judge had kissed the maid instead, 
And the dad-blamed kiss went wrong. 

Now what could the poor excited justice do.? 

The first kiss for the bride was lost — 
*' Impertinence ! How dare you ? " the maid 
did scream. 

" I'll get you arrested at any cost." 

The bride got angry, too, at such a muddle, 
And said she'd aid the maid for spite — 

But what was the legal remedy, I ask ; 

For the judge couldn't pull himself by right? 



[61] 



HIS SEARCH FOR GOLD 

He came down from the Klondike 

Brief days ago, 
Bowed down by tribulations, 

Weighted with human woe, — 
Where he had cast his fortune 

'Mid fields of ice and snow. 

He left his friends and kinsmen 

And a happy home 
To fill his life with that adventure 

Told of in a Wild West tome. 
But wandered unsuccessfully 

From Yukon to Cape Nome. 

He searched the fields of Yukon 

With few supplies, 
And camped beside its shallows 

Where little Yukons rise. 
But missed that mine of nuggets 

Which in that gold field lies. 

He tramped amid the mountains 

From Spring till Fall, 
He strode the great crevasses 

And crossed the rivers all. 
The wealth he sought was spacious, 

But what he got was small. 

[62] 



He drank the wines of Dawson 

And Behring's Strait, 
And stronger drinks did capture him 

In camp on White Horse Lake ; 
He cursed the luck that sent him thither 

A deep inebriate. 

He felt the pangs of hunger 

And northern cold, 
As oft his comrades perished 

Around the camp fires' mold 
And false guides led them to destruction 

In their search for Yukon gold. 

He came down from the Klondike 

Brief days before, 
Bearing the resolution, 

Tested and tried of yore, 
To earn a humble living 

And search for gold no more. 



[63] 



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